The Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) held its monthly meeting with heads of Syrian-American organizations in the presence of SOC’s President Salem Al-Meslet. The two sides discussed the latest developments in the field and political situation in Syria, as well as the developments in the Syrian issue with the US administration.
The meeting brought together SOC’s Secretary-General Haitham Rahma, Secretary of the political committee Abdul Majeed Barakat, Coordinator of the Communities Office Muhammad Yahya Maktabi, and OSC’s representative in Washington Qutaiba Idilbi.
Participants also included Zaki Lababidi, Ayman Abdel Nour, Tariq Abu Ghazaleh, Hashem Al Mubarak, Muhammad Bakr Ghbeis, Suzanne Meriden, and George Asteiphou.
Al-Meslet gave an overview on the SOC’s work after the election of its new presidential body, the political and diplomatic meetings that the SOC conducted in Turkey and abroad, and the results of these meetings.
Al-Meslet made it clear that the SOC attaches great importance to improving services and living conditions in the liberated areas as much as possible. He said that it conducted several visits and tours, during which it met in coordination with the Syrian Interim Government with the leaders of the Syrian National Army, the National Liberation Front, local councils and bodies.
He pointed out that the SOC is currently preparing to visit New York and hold international meetings on the sidelines of the meetings of the UN General Assembly, in addition to visiting Washington DC, and meeting a number of officials in the US administration.
Barakat spoke about the steps taken by the Department of Foreign Relations to prepare files for the US visit, pointing out that the Department held about 20 meetings.
Lababidi spoke about the importance of completing the structure of the Syrian National Army, considering that reforming the National Army and all SOC’s bodies and institutions is no less important than reforming the SOC in order to provide a good model for management in the liberated areas.
Ghbeis stressed that the SOC’s visit to New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting is something that must be taken advantage of through cooperation and coordination with Syrian-American organizations which support the visit.
For his part, Abdel Nour stressed the importance of ending the state of fragmentation in school curricula and local councils, establishing governance, and adopting accountability mechanisms.
Abu-Ghazaleh talked about the importance of the issues being prepared by the SOC for discussion with officials in the US administration in a way that ensures positive interaction from them with the issues raised.
Maktabi spoke about the importance of working to unify the messages sent to the international bodies and the American administration, stressing that this requires continued communication and consultation between the SOC and these organizations in order to coordinate positions and messages prior to the SOC’s visit to the United States.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
